New York Yankees All The Time !

Month: July 2016

Like most Yankee fans I am still sitting here wondering just what the hell happened .

I’m trying to sort things out and figure just went wrong .

At first I blamed A-Rod and Tex for falling short of what was expected of them , and the results being they caused what happened today .

But it goes deeped than that , if you look back to the beginning of the season the Yankees went into it gambling that Tex would be the first baseman for the major part of the season , they had no back up plan at all , they went in with fingers crossed and it blew up in their faces.

Same thing with A-Rod, they totally ignored his fall off the second half of last season and they came into 2016 season thinking that was a fluke and he’d hit 30 plus homers again .

And as with Tex they came into this with no back up plan , and once again it blew up in their faces .

Last winter every Yankee fan in the world knew we had to pick up at the very least 2 players , a Starting Pitcher and a Power RH bat .

Again they did nothing , they thought they could fake it with the Ackleys of the world and maybe a kid from AAA.

This is why had to blow up the team today , the fault goes to the Yankees

And the scary part is the guy responsible for all those short comings is still in control of this team.

Yes this was Cashmans responsibility and he failed in it , so now he goes into a panic mode to save his job and talks the owner into breaking everything up and basically starting over ,and this is just to cover his ass and buy himself 3 to 5 more years.

This is the reality I see , and it wont change unless leadership does .

“I expected Monday to be a little nerve-racking more than anything,” Miller said. “Maybe that’s why I was caught a little off guard. But I’m kind of numb, too. We’ve been hearing it for a couple weeks. That’s kind of been the media’s angle on it.”

Miller is going to a first-place ballclub, but sad about leaving a 52-51 Yankees team that now has traded two closers in seven days, first Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs last Monday.

“I’m disappointed,” Miller said after making a final visit to the Yankees clubhouse around 11:30 a.m. “There’s a lot of guys here I liked a lot. Hopefully I’ve had some friendships that will last beyond this. I’ll be pulling for a lot of them for a long time. It’s a good group of guys. It’s been fun playing here, and that’s a big reason why.”

Miller answered questions for almost nine minutes standing in front of the locker that he’d used the two previous days in the visiting clubhouse at Tropicana Field, both Yankees losses to a last-place Tampa Bay Rays club that seemingly sealed his fate.

A few minutes earlier, a clubhouse manager had emptied the locker by loading Miller’s gloves, spikes and clothes into a Yankees traveling bag. Miller’s locker name plate was removed, too, by the time of his visit.

Miller didn’t see this coming even though his name has been in constant trade rumors, one just two days earlier involving the Washington Nationals.

“I was out of the loop,” he said.

Miller kept believing in the Yankees and figured he’d be part of their present and future because he wasn’t even halfway through a four-year, $36-million contract that had become very team friendly.

“I expected leading up to the deadline it was going to get … at least the chatter was going to pick up again,” Miller said. “I was pretty surprised this morning to get the phone call, but that might have just been the fact that I was sleeping still.

“I’m not totally shocked. I’ve been talking about it since, shoot, spring training even, so it’s just the reality of the game. I had no control over it, so I’ll go with the flow.”

Miller, 31, was everything the Yankees hoped for and more when signing him in December 2014. In two seasons, the 6-foot-7 Gainesville, Fla., native was 9-3 with a 1.77 ERA, 45 saves and 177 strikeouts in 107 innings over 104 appearances

Miller was tremendous closing last season for the Yankees, then graciously accepted a switch to a setup role this season after the club traded for Chapman last winter. He was even better this season, through early May closing again with Chapman suspended and after that as an eighth-inning guy in a No Runs DMC Bullpen that is no more.

Miller now is gone just a few weeks after representing the Yankees at the All-Star Game, his first.

“I liked living in New York,” he said. “A lot of guys on this team I really like a lot. I’m going to miss that. I think it’s a first-class organization and it’s where I signed up to play, but for me now I get a chance to go to a team that’s in the thick of it and has big plans for this year.

“So you’ve got to look at the positives. I look forward to going to Cleveland and helping those guys reach their goals.”

In the middle of the Twins’ game against the Orioles in Minneapolis on Thursday night, the scoreboard operator posted a list of five trades that purportedly had been finalized in a scroll on one of Target Field’s side monitors.

The only problem was none of the trades actually had occurred.

It seems likely the scoreboard operator may have been tricked by one of the many fake Twitter accounts that spring up around the time of the MLB trade deadline.

At 8:45 p.m. Thursday, a fake Twitter account, supposedly operated by ESPN’s Buster Olney, posted a trade between the Indians and Yankees with Carlos Beltran going to Cleveland in exchange for journeyman Mike Clevinger.

Without verifying the tweet’s authenticity, the scoreboard operator posted that trade and four others, which included the Athletics trading Josh Reddick to the Dodgers, the Brewers trading pitcher Will Smith to the Mets, the Angels trading Huston Street to the Nationals and the Royals trading Edinson Volquez to the Dodgers.

Beltran has been rumored as a target of the Indians and Smith has been coveted by the Mets, who want to improve the back end of their bullpen for a possible playoff push.

All the trades were proven to be false within minutes, but that didn’t stop the Indians from wishing for it to be true on their Twitter account.

At 9:07 p.m., the Indians tweeted directly at the Twins with the shortest of replies.

Could the Yankees emerge as a dark horse to acquire the 5-time All-Star starter?

By AJ Hermann

Could the Yankees be in the mix for White Sox ace Chris Sale at this year’s trade deadline?

After weeks of discussion and debate over what approach the New York Yankees will take as the MLB trade deadline nears, a recent report has potentially put them in the sweepstakes for White Sox ace Chris Sale.

Despite a bizarre jersey-destroying outburstearlier in the week, Sale has undoubtedly been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, however the White Sox have seen their record dip to 50-51 entering play Thursday after a 19-8 start.

Sale has not been the reason for Chicago’s lack of wins, however, as the White Sox have gone 14-5 when their dominant lefty takes the mound.

After the Yankees dealt lefty closer Aroldis Chapman to Chicago’s other ballclub, the Cubs, rumors have circulated around whether or not the Yankees will elect to be “buyers” or “sellers” at this year’s August 1 deadline, but if the latest report from Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball turns out to be true, Chris Sale might be trading in his black pinstripes for midnight blue ones.

Heyman wrote Thursday that the Yankees are still a “long shot” to land the services of the 27-year-old five-time All-Star, but with a new injection of young talent acquired in the Chapman trade, New York might be able to put together a desirable package for Chicago, although a costly one.

The White Sox have been reportedly asking for five players or prospects in return for any potential Sale trade, and while the Yankees certainly have enough in the farm system to offer, the price tag may prove to be too steep for a Yankees club still working towards getting younger with more homegrown talents at the Major League level.

“Some people around the game are now speculating that the Yankees could surprise folks by reversing course and seriously jumping into the Chris Sale sweepstakes as a major buyer,” Heyman wrote Thursday, adding that “sources say the Yankees have indeed called the Sox a couple times about Sale.”

“With a shortstop glut (they have Jorge Mateo in addition to [Gleyber] Torres), a well-regarded young pitcher (Luis Severino, who was just promoted), young hitters (Greg Bird, Aaron Judge) and even a catching prospect (Gary Sanchez) the Yankees are one of a few teams that could potentially come close to or meet the Sox’s asking price of five top young players and prospects,” wrote Heyman.

Sale is on the short list for this year’s American League Cy Young conversation, with 14 wins entering play Thursday, and an ERA of 3.18. Over his first nine starts of the 2016 season, Sale’s ERA stood at 1.58, and three of those outings were complete game victories.

Among qualified American League starters, Sale ranks tied for first in wins (14), second in WHIP (1.01), third in opponents’ batting average (.216), eighth in ERA (3.18), seventh in innings pitched (133.0), and seventh in strikeouts (129).

There’s no doubt that the addition of Sale to the Yankees rotation would vault them closer to contention, should they continue to play as well as they have of late. In the second half of the season, the Yankees have gone 8-5, including wins in four of their last six, and three straight series victories over the Orioles, Giants and Astros.

Only time will tell exactly where Sale will be pitching on August 2, and whether or not the Yankees decide to pull the trigger to make a run at one of the most dominant starting pitchers in baseball.

Yankees reliever Dellin Betances is campaigning for management to keep his club together rather than break it up before the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

By Randy Miller

NEW YORK — Yankees reliever Dellin Betances acted surprised that someone had the guts to bring up management possibly being trade-deadline sellers Saturday.

The Yanks’ 2-1, 12-inning loss to the San Francisco Giants was just 15 minutes fresh when the big righty spoke at his locker in the back right corner of the Yankees clubhouse.

“Well, we’ve been playing good,” Betances said. “I think a lot of that (selling possibility) has been changing. We’re not gonna win every game. As hard as we play, we’re gonna lose some. We have a lot of games left, but I feel like we’ve been playing better ball and we just gotta continue to do that.”

Hmmm.

The Yankees did win eight of 12 before losing Saturday, but they’re still just a game over .500, still 7 ½ games back in the division and still 4 ½ games out of a wildcard playoff spot.

Yep, selling still very much remains a possibility, perhaps even a probability.

Betances thinks owner Hal Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman opting to break up the Yanks would be the wrong move.

Beyond that, he thinks this club deserves an opportunity to stay together because of its play over the last two weeks.

“Definitely,” Betances said. “We have a good team. We took three out of four from Baltimore. We’re tied with the Giants right now. Hopefully (Sunday) we win the series.”

Catcher Brian McCann was told about Betances’ campaigning to fight on as is rather than management deal off key parts such as star closer Aroldis Chapman, All-Star right fielder Carlos Beltran and possibly setup reliever Andrew Miller.

McCann then responded that he “absolutely” agrees that the club shouldn’t be torn apart.

“We like our team in here,” McCann said. “We just gotta play good baseball and start winning. For me, that’s where my mindset is.”

It might be too late.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports tweeted Saturday night that the Yanks are “telling clubs they are close to trading Chapman and will hold Miller.”

That’s no surprise.

Chapman will be a free agent after the season. The Yanks might as well get what they can for him, and the fireballing Cuban is on record anyway saying he’d like to re-sign with them after the season even if he’s moved.

Meantime, keeping Miller would be smart because just as good or better than Chapman and signed through 2018 at a bargain rate of $9 million per. They might as well make him part of a future that could include a lot of young guns if the Yanks go all out blowing up their current club.

“We don’t worry,” Beltran said. “That’s not in our hands.”

Oh, but it is in their hands. If the Yanks get to Aug. 1 by winning six of their next seven, maybe Chapman is the only departure and maybe he stays.

But if the Yanks get to Aug. 1 by going 3-4 or 4-3 or 2-5 in their next seven, then what we see now won’t be anything close to what you see in August and September, and that probably wouldn’t be a bad thing. After all, this club has had almost four months to show what it can do, and what they’ve shown is that they’re a mediocre club that needs a couple of big bats, a couple of reliable starters and a couple good middle relievers.

“The organization is going to make whatever decision there’s gonna make, so we can’t worry about that,” Beltran said.

Joe Girardi’s explanation was illogical because, really, there is no logic behind the Yankee manager’s decision to go with Masahiro Tanaka on four days of rest against the Giants and Madison Bumgarner at the Stadium on Friday night.

Every scintilla of available data proves the right-hander’s superiority when getting five days between starts — and mediocrity (or worse) when getting the standard four days. It is neither close nor a subject worthy of debate.

On five days, Tanaka has been an ace, pitching to a 1.05 ERA while allowing one home run and a .193 batting average against over 51 ¹/₃ innings in seven starts. On four days, well, how does a 5.33 ERA with eight home runs allowed and a .293 batting average against over 49 innings in eight starts sound?

You don’t think Girardi is aware of this? Of course he is. And yet, he is going with Tanaka on a night when the Yankees will require his best against one of the best pitchers in the world. He is going with Tanaka because of the flawed roster he has been directing through the summer that does not otherwise grant him the alternatives and options he should have.

Girardi talked and talked, and circuitously so, before Thursday afternoon’s 4-1 defeat to Baltimore that put an end to the Yankees’ four-game winning streak about why he would likely use Chad Green in relief against the O’s rather than save this right-hander — officially recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before the game — for the start against San Francisco.

The manager referred to bullpen arms that needed saving. And then talked about saving Green for the Giants would necessarily create the need for corresponding moves and a 13-man pitching staff.

“I don’t think our club is equipped for that,” he said hours before calling on Green to pitch the final 2 ¹/₃ innings after replacing C.C. Sabathia with two out in the seventh and the deficit at 4-1. “We would still need seven relievers. It would create problems. I don’t think we’re constructed for a 13-man staff.

Ah, but the fact is the Yankees are eighth in the 15-team league in average innings per start. That’s not really the issue. The issue, which Girardi could not broach, and how could he, is the Yankees cannot survive with 12 position players because one of them on the roster cannot play a position.

That, of course, would be Alex Rodriguez, who five days from his 41st birthday, not only cannot play the field but apparently can no longer hit, either.

Designated Hitter? Designated Batter is more like it.

Rodriguez hit the ball hard twice but still went 0-for-3 against Baltimore right-hander Chris Tillman. He is hitting .193 with six home runs in 140 at-bats against righties; .210 with nine home runs in 205 at-bats overall. He has hit one home run in 59 at-bats over his last 18 games, two home runs in 105 at-bats in 30 games since June 4.

He is having the season in 2016 that everyone assumed he would have in 2015 off his one-year suspension for his involvement in MLB’s Biogenesis scandal.

Rodriguez’s lack of production and his inability to play the field mean the Yankees have to lean on Carlos Beltran to play right field far too often when the 39-year-old should optimally be a full-time DH. Maybe Beltran will be gone by the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, but the more he plays in the field, the more chance he wears down.

And when Beltran is in right, that means that Aaron Hicks, an outstanding defender though impotent at the plate, is on the bench. It ultimately proved irrelevant in this defeat, but chances are Hicks could have tracked down Jonathan Schoop’s two-run double down the line in the seventh that extended the Baltimore lead to 4-1 quickly enough to prevent the second run from scoring.

Whether or not the Yankees are truly a contender for a wild-card spot, management — specifically ownership — owes it to the manager, the team, and yes, the fans, to construct the best roster its money can buy. If the Yankees need 13 pitchers so Tanaka can be at his best, that’s what they need. If they need Beltran to DH and Hicks to play the field, that’s what they need.

Releasing Rodriguez would come at the cost of approximately $27 million. That would be a Big Gulp for the Republican Party’s nominee for the presidency, let alone Hal Steinbrenner. Of course it would.
But if that’s what the Yankees need to do, that’s what they need to do.

New York Yankees’ Chase Headley, celebrates with teammates after hitting a two run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday, July 19, 2016, in New York. The Yankees won 7-1.

After getting a late-inning at-bat this afternoon, Yankees third baseman Chase Headley explained his two-day absence from the starting lineup.

“Over the All-Star break, my oldest son had a small operation, and he’s been dealing with some complications the last few days,” Headley said. “It got pretty serious yesterday, and we had to take him to the hospital. He had to have another procedure, but he’s doing a lot better.”

The Yankees had explained the absence by citing only personal reasons. Headley spoke briefly to explain the details of the situation.

His son, Colt, is 4 years old and turns 5 in September.

“I don’t remember a whole lot of days in my life that were worse,” Headley said. “I’m thankful that he’s got the care that he needed and that he’s doing a lot better. He’s in great condition right now.”

Headley was a late scratch from the lineup yesterday and was not with the team for Wednesday’s game. He was back this afternoon and pinch hit in the eighth. Joe Girardi said he expects to have Headley as a fully available player going forward.

And if Chapman’s moved, his preference will be to re-sign with the Yankees in the winter when he becomes a free agent.

“I feel very happy and comfortable here in the city,” Chapman told NJ Advance Media before his record-tying performance in the Yankees’ 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles. “At the same time, this is a business and if I happened to be traded away, I’m pretty sure they’re going to be doing it for the good of the team.

“That being said, if the opportunity comes up where I can come back to the team, I would be more than happy.”

Chapman was with Cincinnati for his first six seasons before joining the Yankees in a December 2015 trade. He loves being a Yankee, in part because of the organization’s gigantic fan base.

“This is a great team to be a part of, I can tell you that,” Chapman said. “When you go on the road, you can see how many fans we have and that’s something really nice. That’s something that I would love to keep being part of. Hopefully everything works out.”

Yankees fans were going gaga for Chapman again Monday night at Yankee Stadium when one of his ninth-inning pitches registered 105.1 mph on the radar gun to tie his record for the fastest pitch ever clocked, a 105.1 mph fastball in 2010.

Chapman, however, probably will have new fans within two weeks if the Yankees opt to be sellers at the trade deadline.

The Yankees have three stars in the backend of their bullpen — Chapman plus All-Star righty Dellin Betances and All-Star lefty Andrew Miller — and management likely will break them up baring a late July hot streak. After winning Monday, the Yanks are just 46-46, which has them 7 ½ games behind first-place Baltimore in the AL East and five out of the last wild card spot.

Chapman would be the best bet to go of the three because he’s in the walk season of his contract.

There also have been rumors that the Yankees are interested in giving Chapman a new contract, but the lefty reliever hasn’t been approached or initiated anything.

“I get a lot of information from my friends and family,” Chapman said. “They are the ones that go online and tell me this team might want me or this other team might want me, but in reality I don’t pay attention to it. I’ve been traded before and I know this is a business. It’s tough to pay attention to stuff that you can’t control. What I can do is come here and my work and help us.”

Chapman, 28, was lights out pitching for the Reds and he’s been just as good for the Yankees since joining the club in May after serving a 30-game suspension for breaking MLB’s domestic violence policy. In 29 games he’s 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA with 19 saves in 20 chances and 40 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings.

For now, he’s hoping for a Yankees hot streak that keeps him in New York through the 2016 season.

“You never know, we can start a winning streak right now, and if we do the talk will be very different,” Chapman said.

New York Yankees’ Carlos Beltran, left, gets a high five from Alex Rodriguez following his two-run home run off Minnesota Twins pitcher Pat Dean in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 17, 2016, in Minneapolis.

Baseball’s trade deadline is two weeks away, which means the Yankees are running out of time to hem and haw.

Here’s what general manager Brian Cashman said in a Friday radio interview coming out of the All-Star break:

“We will either springboard off of what we did in Cleveland where we took three out of four and continue that roll, or we could hurt ourselves by stubbing our toe out of the gate in the second half. And either way that could give us some clarification on what we are. And in my job, I’m having both conversations. That’s part of my job responsibilities, to be prepared the worst case scenario happens, but also I’ve been trying to add. And that’s not just the recent side of it. We’ve been trying to add since May onto areas that are of need.”

To use Cashman’s term, the Yankees mostly stubbed their toe this weekend against the Red Sox.

That said, the Yankees have yet to declare themselves sellers. If anything, they’ve postured as if they’re buyers while floating the idea of doing something in between.

This year’s deadline is August 1 — moved from July 31 to avoid the deadline falling on a Sunday — which means the Yankees have exactly two weeks to made a decision one way or the other. They have plenty of tradeable assets, but as always, it making a deal requires finding a partner willing to give up something of value.

Here are 10 names to keep in mind:

Teammates congratulate New York Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman, center, after Chapman, the first player disciplined under Major League Baseball’s new domestic violence policy, closed out the Yankees 6-3 victory in a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium in New York, Monday, May 9, 2016. New York Yankees catcher Brian McCann, right, hit a first inning solo home run in the game. (Photo: Kathy Willens, AP)

Aroldis Chapman

Sales pitch: The Yankees could easily market Chapman as the best closer available; a true difference maker for any bullpen.

Contract: Chapman is a free agent at the end of this year, making him an obvious trade candidate.

Market: Many contenders including the Nationals, Cubs and Rangers are regularly linked to bullpen help. This winter, the Yankees got him at something of a discount because of a domestic abuse investigation.

Will it happen? This is the most obvious trade chip on the Yankees’ roster. Contending teams are always in the market for relievers, and Chapman is a proven ninth-inning option. For the Yankees, there’s little reason to keep him if they aren’t convinced they can make a playoff run. He would, at best, bring back a draft pick next year. Might as well trade him and hope for a single prospect better than any the Yankees gave up to acquire Chapman this winter. Chapman does come with off-the-field baggage, though, and might not appeal to every team and every market.

Carlos Beltran

Sale pitch: Because of his tremendous offensive production, the Yankees could certainly sell Beltran as a middle-of-the-order slugger who can play right field. It helps that he’s been a terrific postseason player.

Contract: Beltran is a free agent at the end of this year. The idea of giving him a qualifying offer is at least somewhat complicated by his age and concerns about his ability to keep playing the field.

Will it happen? Certainly seems possible, but I could also imagine the Yankees putting Beltran’s name on the market and finding the potential return to be fairly underwhelming. Trading Beltran would be a pure “sell” move to rob the Yankees of by far their best hitter. That might be a tough pill for ownership to swallow. They could trade Chapman and still feel good about the ninth inning. Hard to trade Beltran and still feel remotely good about the middle of the order.

Nathan Eovaldi

Sales pitch: A 26-year-old starting pitcher with another year of team control and a fastball that reaches 100 mph.

Contract: Eovaldi still has one more year of arbitration eligibility, which means he would be more than a one-year rental.

Market: He was so bad before the break that the Yankees moved him temporarily into the bullpen, but starting pitchers have become overwhelmingly valuable and hard to acquire. Most recently, the Pirates have been linked to Eovaldi.

Will it happen? Could depend entirely on what the Yankees can get in return. The high cost of starting pitching is a double-edged sword. It gives Eovaldi value on the market, but also makes him difficult to replace (especially considering the upside if he ever finds consistency). Trading Eovaldi could open a door for either Chad Green or Luis Severino to step back into the big league rotation, but is either one of those a more reliable option for next year?

Michael Pineda

Sales pitch: A 27-year-old starting pitcher with another year of team control who had a terrific month of June.

Contract: Still has another year of abritation eligibility, which means he would be more than a one-year rental.

Market: Very similar to Eovaldi, for better and for worse. Pineda has perhaps had a slightly better season, and it’s basically a toss up whether a team would or should prefer him or Eovaldi. His value is tied to the fact he’s a starting pitcher with a strong arm. The only reason to trade him is that he hasn’t been consistent enough to live up to his potential.

Will it happen? Essentially, Pineda and Eovaldi are on and the same. At least, that’s more or less the way the Yankees have to look at them going forward. Keeping either one of them would mean betting on his ability to put some things together and actually deliver a strong season out of the rotation. Trading either one would require cutting losses and taking advantage of a seller’s market when it comes to starting pitching. Could see the Yankees trading either Eovaldi or Pineda, but perhaps not both.

Andrew Miller

Sales pitch: Even though he’s not a closer, the Yankees could market Miller as perhaps the game’s best reliever signed to a relatively affordable contract.

Contract: Miller’s deal runs through two more seasons at $9 million per year. He turned 31 in May.

Market: Hard to say whether Miller is truly available, but it’s safe to say anyone is available at the right price. The Rangers have specifically been linked to Miller in recent days, but the Cubs and Nationals have also been mentioned in the past. If Miller’s on the market, almost any contending team would surely be interested in at least a conversation.

Will it happen? My guess is that it won’t. Not that the Yankees wouldn’t be open to the idea, but they’re surely going to expect contention again next season, and Miller would make them better in 2017 and 2018. This level of pitcher with this kind of contract would require a significant prospect return. Maybe that market exists, but it would make sense for the Yankees to enter any Miller trade conversation looking for a true can’t-pass-it-up offer.

Mark Teixiera

Sales pitch: Buy low opportunity for a Gold Glove first baseman who just might deliver a bunch of home runs down the stretch.

Contract: Teixeira is in the final year of his contract, and his poor performance might have wiped out any chance of a qualifying offer, which means the Yankees best chance to get something in return might be a deadline deal. He does have full no-trade protection.

Market: Hard to say whether there’s any market for Teixeira. A team would really have to roll the dice and bank on a significant resurgence down the stretch. A repeat of the past three months surely has no trade value.

Will it happen? Teixeira strikes me as a guy who could clear waivers and become a trade candidate beyond the non-waiver deadline. The Yankees might not find a taker before the end of this month, but if he come back from his current foot injury and delivers a burst of home runs, a market could emerge later in the season. For right now, he’s not healthy enough or productive enough to think the Yankees could get anything meaningful in return.

Ivan Nova

Sales pitch: A healthy starting pitcher who’s best stretches have been very good; a rotation gamble for a team in desperate need of a starter.

Contract: Nova will be a free agent at the end of this season. He’s 29 and making a little more than $4 million this year.

Market: The only reason there might be a market is because plenty of teams need rotation help, even if that help comes in the form of a depth option who’s been inconsistent. The fact he’s about to be a free agent is the best reason for the Yankees to try to get something in return.

Will it happen? In the past, Nova’s name has surfaced in a few trade rumors. In fact, he was a popular part of the rumor mill this offseason. But Nova’s inconsistency is a problem both for the Yankees and for their potential to trade him. If the Yankees can actually get something decent in return, there’s surely little reason to keep Nova at this point. Can they actually get anything, though? Maybe not.

Brett Gardner

Sales pitch: A legitimate starting pitcher and leadoff hitter signed to a reasonable contract.

Contract: Gardner is in the second year of a four-year, $52-million deal, which seems like a bargain compared to Jacoby Ellsbury’s contract.

Market: This winter, Gardner’s name was often mentioned in trade rumors. That hasn’t been the case this season, but if the Yankees decide to really sell at the deadline, Gardner could be a viable candidate because the Yankees have other in-house options who could replace him in left field.

Will it happen? Trading Gardner might be more difficult for the Yankees than it seems. He’s been one of the farm system’s greatest success stories of the past two decades, and his contract is pretty affordable (he would probably get more on the open market). The Yankees like Gardner, and he’s delivered their highest on-base percentage this season. There’s really no indication that the Yankees are actively shopping Gardner, or that teams are actively trying to get him.

Austin Romine

Sales pitch: A cheap catcher with three more years of team control having a nice year, especially against lefties.

Contract: Hasn’t even reached arbitration eligibility yet, meaning teams would be acquiring multiple years of control.

Market: Romine’s name is not often floated as a trade chip, and there’s no real indication that the Yankees are shopping him or even remotely interested in trading him. I’m mentioning him because the Yankees have traded away a backup catcher each of the past three offseasons, so they’re more than willing to cut ties. Romine’s raised his value, Gary Sanchez is waiting in the wings, and Kyle Higashioka has emerged as another bit of catching depth.

Will it happen? Probably not. But trading Romine does seem like the kind of thing that might fit a buy-and-sell approach to the deadline. Replacing Romine with Sanchez could be an upgrade in the short-term while also bringing back a different sort of talent (perhaps a different big league player or a mid-level prospect to supplement the system). Probably wouldn’t get much in return, but catching is thin, especially in the American League.

Jake Cave

Sales pitch: A versatile outfielder with good Triple-A numbers who’s ready to step onto a big league roster.

Contract: He’s not even on the 40-man roster, so Cave would come with plenty of team control.

Market: This would be more of a buy move for the Yankees. He’s the kind of on-the-verge player that selling teams often look for in a deadline deal, and the Yankees have enough left-handed outfield redundancy to trade him.

Will it happen? Really, Cave is kind of a stand-in representing several left-handed outfielders in the Yankees’ system. Ben Gamel, Mason Williams and Dustin Fowler are vaguely similar players, and the Yankees already have Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury in the big leagues. Last year the Yankees traded away a similar redundancy by including Ramon Flores in the Dustin Ackley trade. Cave’s had a nice year — so has Gamel — and it would make some sense for the Yankees to swap one of them to address a weakness elsewhere.

Aroldis Chapman #54 of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch in the ninth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on July 15, 2016 in the Bronx borough of New York City.The Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 5-3.

By Joe Giglio

Aroldis Chapman’s 102 MPH fastballs have electrified Yankee Stadium more than any closer the team has had since Mariano Rivera. If things break right, triple-digit radar gun readings could become the norm in the Bronx.

Andrew Miller was great in 2015, David Robertson outstanding (if not nerve racking) before that and Rafael Soriano solid during a year Rivera was injured. So far, Chapman’s stuff has bested them all.

While the idea of the Yankees holding on to Chapman seems more and more farfetched as the trade deadline approaches, the team is at least considering it if they remain in contention. Not only that, but the marriage between the Yankees and Chapman could be extended beyond 2016 through a contract extension, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

One possibility that the Yankees are considering if they stay competitive, according to major-league sources: Signing potential free-agent closer Aroldis Chapman to an extension.

The team has yet to initiate any such discussions, sources say, and retains the option of trading Chapman and then re-signing him in the offseason without losing a draft pick.

It’s not crazy to imagine New York shipping Chapman out for a prospect, then entering the bidding to bring him back on a long-term deal for 2017. Probably unlikely, but not crazy. The alternative—keeping the dominant flame-thrower through the deadline—does change the equation, especially if the Yankees keep him.

When New York acquired Chapman at a bargain price, it seemed like a one-year rental that worked for both parties. Now, it may be time for Yankees fans to readjust feelings and thoughts on Chapman because he might around for a long time.

Chapman entered play on July 16 sporting a 2.39 ERA and 1.81 FIP since debuting in early May. The free-agent-to-be is making $11.235 million in his final season before free agency and could look to break Jonathan Papelbon’s record (four years, $50M) for most guaranteed money in a deal.